Anyone interested in posting some, perhaps long and rambling, rough drafts of what their 2004 DVD or Theatrical "best of" lists may end up looking like?

Just thought it might be fun -- especially for us unfortunate last minute holiday shoppers -- to be reminded of some half-forgotten treasures.

Off the top of my head, here are a few I'll be considering for my Top 10 Films of the Year list. Crowds, prices and poor exhibition keep me out of the theaters for the most part, but I did see a few this year.

ANCHORMAN
CELLULAR
DODGEBALL
EUROTRIP
FAHRENHEIT 9/11
THE INCREDIBLES
KILL BILL, VOLUME 2
NAPOLEON DYNAMITE
THE PUNISHER
SPARTAN
SPIDER-MAN 2
SUPER SIZE ME

Some to avoid:
HOME ON THE RANGE
JERSEY GIRL
THE LADYKILLERS
TWISTED
VAN HELSING (undoubtedly the worst film of 2004)
WILD THINGS 2

A couple of surprising guilty pleasures:
FRANKENFISH
TORQUE

I haven't completely thought out a top ten for this year, but I know these films will all be in there (in no particular order right now, except for SIDEWAYS):

SIDEWAYS
FAHRENHEIT 9/11
THE CORPORATION
HERO
MARIA FULL OF GRACE
SUPER SIZE ME

So far, the only truly noteworthy films I think I've seen this year have been (in no order)

THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD
SIDEWAYS
DOGVILLE
BEFORE SUNSET
KILL BILL (I prefer to think of this as one film)
THE FIVE OBSTRUCTIONS

Some other stuff I've really enjoyed - ANCHORMAN, TEAM AMERICA, SPIDERMAN 2 - but I'm going to reserve judgement on calling those the best of the year until I get through my pretty big list of screenings set in the next two weeks....MILLION DOLLAR BABY, THE LIFE AQUATIC, IMAGINARY HEROES, THE AVIATOR, THE SEA INSIDE...etc.

I didn't see a vast number of films at the cinema this year, so I've also included a handful of titles that debuted on DVD in 2004, even if they were released theatrically in 2003 (there shouldn't be too many).

Best (8-10/10):
The Butterfly Effect
Fahrenheit 9/11
Hero
In My Skin (Dans Ma Peau)
Kill Bill Volume 2
Lost in Translation
Monster
My Life Without Me
Swimming Pool
Thirteen

Good (6-8/10):
Bubba Ho-Tep
The Card Player (Il Cartaio)
Dawn of the Dead (remake)
Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut
The Dreamers
Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Not so good (4-6/10):
Godsend
Home on the Range
Nathalie
Resident Evil: Apocalypse

Worst (1-4/10):
Ginger Snaps III: The Beginning (DTV)
The Girl Next Door
Gothika
Mulan II (DTV)

Without giving this more than a moment's thought, at this point, I would say the following films will maybe be on my theatrical list somewhere --


SIDEWAYS
THE CORPORATION
THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD
DOGVILLE
VERA DRAKE
THE INCREDIBLES
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
BRIGHT FUTURE
THE RETURN
THE BLIND SWORDSMAN ZATOICHI
NEW YORK MINUTE

...just kidding about that last one... heh.

I'm also not sure about the dates. I think all of the above had a 2004 NYC release.

By the way, this is a great start, but how about seeing some DVD lists?

Some of the movies I've enjoyed the most this year were, in no order:
Mean Creek
Supersize Me
Fahrenheit 9/11- ill refrain from comentary though
the Incredibles
Spider Man 2- JK Simmons is amazing in everything
Team America
Dawn of the Dead remake was fun to see in a theatre but repeated viewings bored me
Saw
Ladder 49
i did see a movie called Stander, with thomas jane and while im not sure which year this came out in, i saw it at a college film fest a few months back, it was a fantastic little movie.

Some movies ive seen this year that bored me or mad me mad for wasting my money were:
Ladykillers- even jk simmons couldnt save this mess
the terminal- strike 2 for tom hanks this year
Van Helsing
Anchorman
Sky Captain and the World Of Tomorrow
Alien vs. Predator
Resident Evil: Apocalypse

This is for me easily the best year since at least 2000 for theatrical releases. All of the below would have had a chance of sliding in the 2003 list: THE RETURN, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, OLD BOY, SIDEWAYS, SHAUN OF THE DEAD, HERO, LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE, COLLATERAL, METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER, KILL BILL V. 2, BEFORE SUNSET, NOTRE MUSIQUE, BIRTH, INFERNAL AFFAIRS, GARDEN STATE, CONTROL ROOM, THE INCREDIBLES, THE FIVE OBSTRUCTIONS, MEMORIES OF MURDER, VERA DRAKE, ZATOICHI, PRIMER, UNDERTOW, ANCHORMAN, SPRING, SUMMER, FALL, WINTER, SPRING, TOUCHING THE VOID, ONG-BAK, SPIDER-MAN 2, WOODENHEAD, DIG!, TEAM AMERICA, I'M NOT SCARED, KITCHEN STORIES, BROKEN WINGS, DODGEBALL, THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD, INTIMATE STRANGERS, WOMAN IS THE FUTURE OF MAN.

That's roughly in order. (And I still haven't seen THE LIFE AQUATIC, CLOSER, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, OPEN WATER, FACING WINDOWS, MEAN CREEK, MARIA FULL OF GRACE, MILLION DOLLAR BABY, SPARTAN, A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT, or THE AVIATOR ... and those are just the ones that I think would have a chance at hitting the list.) A couple of the titles on the list (most notably OLD BOY) may not be technically eligible for this year's poll, but still, what a year. (And I'm leaving off some titles that I might regret on another viewing, like DOGVILLE and TROPICAL MALADY, neither of which connected but both clearly had a lot going on.) I'd say everything after VERA DRAKE is flawed to intermittent degrees, but for the most part no more so than BIG FISH, LOST IN TRANSLATION, or 28 DAYS LATER, all of which made the lower half of the list last year.

Ed, STANDER is a release from this year, although I don't know if it got much of a proper theatrical release. It's coming out on DVD later this month. I saw the trailer in November.

As for DVDs, off the top of my head (though it's been a quiet year for me on that front): the Alan Clarke set, plenty of Criterions (VIDEODROME, SLACKER, IKIRU ...), Walt Disney's ON THE FRONT LINES, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT season 1. Biggest disappointment: a tie between the completely lackluster release of THE CELEBRATION and BADDER SANTA, which is only a little badder in terms of content and much badder in terms of editing and pacing. (Or maybe I'm just more sensitive to that now.) Still need to watch ONIBABA, RULES OF THE GAME, BATTLE OF ALGIERS, HORNS AND HALOS, LA DOLCE VITA, THE RETURN, DRACULA: PAGES FROM A VIRGIN'S DIARY, and the WB film noir box set, plus all the kajillions that I don't own.)

I missed a lot this year, but this is the best of what I've seen (in order):

DOGVILLE
THE DREAMERS
NAPOLEON DYNAMITE
BEFORE SUNSET
ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY
SUPER SIZE ME
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT
THE BROWN BUNNY

KILL BILL 2
COLLATERAL
ELELPHANT
THIRTEEN
VAGABOND (cinema)
DOLLARS TRILOGY (cinema 70mm!)
SAFE (got released in aust cinmeas this year!)

this year was a terrible year for new movies generally, and I don't really consider 'documnetaries' to be 'movies'. Most of the decent flicks we haven't seen yet will arrive for Xmas or early new year...I'm looking forward to LIFE AQUATIC, INCREDIBLES, SIDEWAYS, I LOVE HUCKABEES and a no doubt Romero's LAND OF THE DEAD, since I"m absolutely over horror as a genre (especially all this rubbish contemporary fare)..!

I"ve actually been thinking about this lately. In rough chronological order:

SPARTAN
TWILIGHT SAMURAI
SPIDERMAN 2
BOURNE SUPREMACY (iffy case)
COLLATERAL
HERO (favorite movie of the year so far)
SHAUN OF THE DEAD
TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE

I saw a lot this year, making up for lost time. A few I missed for various reasons that I'd like to eventually see: HELLBOY, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, BUKOWSKI: BORN INTO THIS, I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD, GHOST IN THE SHELL 2, TAE-GUK-GI.

I agree it wasn't a real good year for movies, although it was a pretty good year for the unprepossessing genre flick. I wouldn't exactly call them "great" movies, but I think most people would like THE PUNISHER, ANACONDAS: HUNT FOR THE BLOOD ORCHID, I ROBOT, SEED OF CHUCKY, CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK. CELLULAR was probably the best of that batch.

Bad movies?

VAN HELSING
THE VILLAGE
RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE
THE MACHINIST
ALEXANDER

I think by any stretch of imagination ALEXANDER is the worst movie of the year (to date, anyway) although it's a lot more fun in it's gonzo way than VAN HELSING.

doug

Not in order-
KILL BILL VOL. 2 (liked it much better than VOL.1)
THE INCREDIBLES
ONG-BAK
FLAVORS
TREKKIES 2
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
SPIDERMAN 2
MEAN GIRLS

As for DVDs-
FREAKS AND GEEKS Set
WIZARDS
SIN IN THE SUBURBS/THE SWAP AND HOW THEY MAKE IT
VIDEODROME
STAR TREK: SEASON 1
THX 1138
ALAN CLARKE COLLECTION
LIVE AID
HISTORY OF IRON MAIDEN: THE EARLY YEARS
THE UNIVERSAL MUMMY COLLECTION

Gang, why don't we wait for our annual poll before having this discussion so bias isn't a factor?

Not sure if I'm worried about bias, so much, but for most people outside of New York and LA and other film meccas, the best is yet to come. (Or so I'm hoping...)

It's really not over for DVDs either with two nice Criterions this week, 24 HOURS S3, the pretty awe-inspiring MATRIX set (regardless of what you think about the movies themselves), and next week's RETURN OF THE KING. Heck, I have too many DVDs to work my way through from this year to come up with any kind of list now.